“Yeah,” Kos said. “That will explain everything.”
“Well, think of something. Just take care of it.”
“Will do. But, Bel, remember they have Pedro. Please attempt a rescue before Vania burns them all down.”
The news that Pedro had been kidnapped made Zoey’s stomach drop.
Bel nodded in agreement. The gathering dispersed quickly and she was left alone with Andre.
“The Hunters have Pedro?” she asked.
His eyes drooped with worry, and he said, “I’m afraid so. We think they picked him up after dinner with you on Tuesday night.”
“Oh.” It was chilling to consider what Ethan and Lucas might be capable of. Her skin crawled and her face felt heavy with the same expression of concern on Andre’s.
“Bel’s men have been trying to track him, but if he’s still alive, maybe they’ll find him.”
Zoey closed her eyes and imagined Pedro’s handsome laughing face. Lucas had seemed to like him, but nothing was what it seemed anymore. “Andre, I’m so sorry. Is this somehow my fault? Could I have saved him?”
“I’ve been asking myself the same thing.” The muscles of his jaw bulged.
After a moment, she asked, “Is that shield outside…magic?”
Andre swiped his hand over his short black hair, and scratched the back of his head. “Apparently so. I do not know much about magic. Bel says magicians are simply people who know how to control things we do not. And that witches require a lot of chocolate.”
That explained the smear on Trys’s face. Then she shook her head. That didn’t explain anything. Magic, witches, chocolate?
“Shit.” Astonished, she leaned her head closer to him. “When are you going to stop blowing my mind? I can’t take much more of this.”
Andre’s green eyes glinted with an almost-laugh, and the tension between them eased, if not her fears about Pedro.
“I am sorry, Zoey, I truly am. That they involved you in this and that I did not protect you better.”
“It’s not your job to protect me, and I’m sorry I came back. Sounds like I’ve screwed things up royally…” She glanced away, focusing on a crease in the shoulder of his rumpled shirt. “I ruined my own life and made yours difficult in ways that I don’t understand.”
“I may as well explain, then…” He rubbed the back of his neck.
Was he serious? She met his eye again, and felt that space of deep knowing open up between them. All the willpower she possessed couldn’t have budged her gaze. “That would help me,” she said.
“Perhaps it will make things easier on both of us.” His nostrils flared and his pupils dilated at the same time. “But, first I need to…eat.”
Her stomach sank as a confusing progression of emotions passed through her—fear, revulsion, and finally curiosity. Andre watched her closely as she roller coastered through them. He seemed relieved by what he saw in the end.
“Can I watch?” she asked.
Chapter 26
LUCAS’S EYES TRIED TO CLAMP SHUT, but he forced them open. He owed it to Pedro to watch. A razor thin line of blood seeped from the incision Ethan cut into his leg, then he pulled Pedro’s skin away from his raw flesh. Lucas went cold. Pedro screamed and thrashed on the table, no longer bothering to beg. His wild eyes told Lucas he was even more afraid of what might come next, which meant Ethan’s technique was excellent. Sick bastard. When had he learned to torture? That little black bag confirmed his worst fears about his brother.
Stephen’s phone rang. “Bennett.”
He listened for a moment and Lucas assumed it was Mick.
“What? A shield, around the whole house? Is it an electro-magnet? Can’t the cocktails go through even if the grenades bounce off?” Stephen was silent again. “Shit.” He hung up. “They’re retreating. There’s some kind of shield around the whole house. None of the weapons can get through.”
Ethan turned his concentration from Pedro. “A shield? That doesn’t make sense.” He examined his blood slick blade. “Let’s ask our little friend.” Pedro was unconscious, so Ethan slapped him. “How are they shielding the house?”
“What?” Pedro’s eyes were shut tight, and his head rocked back and forth.
“There’s a shield around the house. How’s he doing that?”
The rock became a shake. “Don’t know!”
Lucas could hear the first Hunters arriving at the compound. They must have left well before Mick called Stephen. His father went out to meet them.
“Maybe this will help you remember.” Ethan made a vertical slice into the skin on Pedro’s calf, intersecting the one circumscribing his ankle. Then he used the razor blade to get under a corner of the incision and begin to peel away the skin.
Pedro’s throaty scream vibrated in Lucas’s bones, tipping him to the point of decision. He picked up Ethan’s sun dagger and pummeled his brother in the head. Stunned, Ethan turned toward him, but Lucas acted fast. He brought the hilt of the dagger down hard on his brother’s head again. Then he landed a punch to his face and a knee to his gut. Ethan went down. Would he be out long enough for Lucas to get Pedro out? He taped Ethan’s mouth closed, then both hands and ankles together. He landed one last hard kick to his brother’s head, knocking him over and unconscious.
Pedro was also unconscious. Lucas used Ethan’s sun dagger to cut him off the table. Then he put it in his back pocket and lifted Pedro into his arms. His keys were in his pocket and the plan in his head only got him as far as his car.
Outside, it sounded like all the Hunters had returned. There was a lot of shouting—utter chaos and confusion. Maybe that would give him a chance to escape. He kicked open the door of the shed and ran toward his Land Cruiser as fast as he could with Pedro’s dead weight. When he was almost to his car, he looked up to see two men and a woman blocking his way. Who the hell were they?
“Give him to me, Hunter, and I’ll kill you fast,” the big one with dark hair said.
“Back off, he’s hurt. I’m getting him out of here.”
“You’re not going anywhere,” said the chick. She was decked out in black leather like Catwoman. Too weird.
“He needs help.”
“He’s not your problem now—we are.”
Behind them, Lucas saw tall flames dancing around the side of the house and catching the grass on fire. A window shattered on the back exterior wall, where black smoke climbed into the sky. Stephen barked orders at the initiates to try to save his family tapestries. Two men collided while trying to get the weapons through the front door.
One of the kids apparently noticed him carrying Pedro. Pointing, he shouted, “Hey, Mick, what’s he doing with the prisoner?”
Lucas extended Pedro’s heavy, limp body to the big man. “Just take him—make sure he’s safe.” A shot rang out and too late Lucas saw his father aiming a gun at him. The bullet missed him and slammed into Pedro’s side as he hung between him and the other man. The force knocked Lucas back, but he held onto Pedro.
The man helped Lucas right himself. Pedro groaned loudly. The bald stranger took out his gun and provided cover, aiming at Stephen Bennett and the other Hunters.
“You’ve been shot,” said the dark-haired man. “I’m taking you to Andre. He can help.”
Pedro eyes weren’t focusing, but he turned his head to the man, then to Lucas. His face contorted with the effort it took to speak, and his voice was raw from screaming. “Bel…he comes with us…they’ll kill him…for freeing me.”
“Oh, hell no, Pedro. He’s a Hunter.”
Lucas could feel wet blood trickle down his hand where he gripped Pedro’s side. A lot of blood.
Pedro shook his head. “No…a coward maybe…not a Hunter anymore.”
The one he called Bel asked Lucas, “Well?”
“He’s right. I’m not…anymore.”
“Shit.” Bel took Pedro from Lucas without much effort and tilted his head in the direction of escape.
“Not that way. Let’s take
my truck so we don’t have to carry him.” Lucas’s car chirped when he unlocked it. Once they got Pedro inside, the woman and the one called Bel climbed in quickly. The bald one kept the door ajar and his gun trained at the group of Hunters amassing by the front door of the house. Lucas gunned the engine and skidded onto the highway.
Thirty yards down, the woman said, “Stop here.” Lucas slammed on his brakes. She and the gunman got into their van, and he raced behind her as quickly as possible toward the Kaštel Estate.
In the rear view mirror, Lucas watched Bel in the backseat applying pressure to Pedro’s wound. He took a deep breath and tried to sound calm for Pedro’s sake. “That’s a lot of blood.”
“Clean exit though, that’s good. Pedro, buddy. You still with me?”
“Yeah. Yeah.” After a minute Pedro said, “Lucas?”
“I’m here.”
“Fuck you.” It was the least he deserved for his failure to rescue Pedro sooner. But the words made the situation clear—he had betrayed his family for someone who would hate him.
Bel laughed. “Man, I like you more and more.” Then his voice became calm and matter-of-fact, like somebody used to being in the line of fire. “Listen, Pedro, you’re losing a lot of blood…”
“It’s okay…made my peace.” He paused for a few breaths. “But I’m glad…” He coughed and Lucas saw a spray of blood splatter Bel’s face. “Glad you got me out…wanted it on my terms…not theirs.”
“Pedro, you have a choice.”
“What choice?” he rasped.
“We can’t get you to the E.R., but we can get you to Andre. He’ll turn you, if you want him to.”
“You mean…into a vampire?”
It was probably the only way to save Pedro, for him to become what Lucas hated most.
“Only if you want. Or you can die in peace. Both are good choices, my friend. If it makes a difference, Andre and Kos have been worried sick about you. They would miss you if you decided to go. And they’d be happy for you to join their card games.”
“Hell no. I’m not playing Uno with them. If I don’t have to sleep…I’m going clubbing.”
Chuckling, Bel asked, “Is that a yes?”
“Yeah, man. Let him do it.” Pedro closed his eyes.
“Faster, Bennett. If he dies in this car, there’s nothing Andre can do.”
Lucas pushed the gas pedal down and approached the bumper of the van ahead. It sped up in turn. Hatred or not, he wanted Pedro to survive.
Chapter 27
ANDRE SUCKED IN A BREATH. Zoey wanted to watch him feed. Mila had never seen him bite someone else. It had made her nervous just to think of it. What would it be like to have Zoey’s eyes on him? The idea intrigued him, as evidenced by his growing erection. But what if she was repulsed? Well, then she would stay away from him and his problem would be solved.
He did the math in his head. He had fed from Susan on Monday, it would be safe to take a small amount more blood from her. With all the wine he had been drinking he only needed a little to keep his blood lust for Zoey at bay.
“Let me find Susan.”
Zoey followed him to the south wing of the house where Susan and Ally shared a room. He rapped his knuckles on their door, and when it opened, his entire household was inside.
“Is everything all right?” Ally asked him.
“So far. The house is secure.”
“When we felt the earthquake, Bel shouted down the hall for us all to gather in here,” Susan said.
“Was it an earthquake?” Ally asked.
“No, it was a rocket bouncing off a magical shield surrounding us.” Zoey said it so matter-of-factly that his women weren’t sure whether she was joking. Damn, he liked her wry sense of humor.
“Really?” Susan asked.
“Yes. It is true,” he replied. Everyone was stunned into silence. “The Hunters are gone for the time being. But I expect they will be back in the next few days. Next time you hear anything, I want you all to head into the cellars. You know where the emergency exit is?”
“You mean that creepy tunnel opening out on the hillside in the north vineyard?” Ally asked.
“Yes. If it comes to that, you may need to evacuate. Take flashlights with you, and your wallets.”
“Where do we go from there?”
“If it seems safe, walk to the Farmhouse Inn. You know the one?”
“Yep, I know it,” Susan said. “Your friend Sam owns it.”
“Exactly. Just tell him you need his help and that I’ll be along shortly.” The women nodded that they understood his instructions. When he was satisfied, he turned to Susan. “If you don’t mind, I need you.”
She gave him a puzzled look until she realized what he meant. “Sure. Where?”
Andre looked around at the room that she shared with Ally. It would be a violation of their space to feed there. But, with Zoey in his room—
Zoey must have guessed the problem because she said, “Let’s go to my room.”
Susan’s brows came together. “All three of us?”
“If it’s all right with you, he said I could watch.”
Susan’s smile was sly. “You two are getting kinky.”
“No, we’re not,” Andre said. “But Zoey is stuck here with us, against her will, and it seems fair to me to give her all the information she wants.”
“Whatever you say.”
The three arrived in Zoey’s disheveled room. When she gathered her things to flee the night before, she must have been more frightened than he had thought. Yet here she was half a day later, asking to watch him feed. She showed no signs of Mila’s reluctance, only curiosity and a firm determination.
“Where do you want me?” Susan asked them both. It made him nervous, the way she was being deliberately provocative.
He looked at Zoey and she shrugged, as if wanting to appear at ease. “Do your thing.”
Andre’s heart pounded. He shouldn’t care so much what her reaction would be. Should he sit Susan next to him in their usual arrangement, or sit her on his lap? That was the easiest position for feeding. Did he want her to see how sexually arousing his bite could be? Yes, but—
“Sit down, Andre,” Susan said gesturing at the bed. When he planted himself, she sat on his lap. She was so much smaller than him that she had to straddle one of his large thighs to find her balance. “You owe me for this,” she whispered so quietly that only his ears would hear.
Zoey backed herself against the wall, her jaw open in fascination. Their eyes locked for a moment, but then he turned his attention to Susan. Her chin-length hair left her neck exposed to him.
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
He placed one hand on each of Susan’s upper arms and licked her neck in the spot where he would soon bite. Zoey released the breath she was holding. Did she remember him licking her like that? His cock certainly remembered.
“Behave.” Susan whispered another barely audible word when he hardened underneath her.
Andre opened his mouth wide and let his fangs extend fully so they were visible to Zoey. With his head angled to the side, he looked at her again. Her lips had changed shape, forming an O, while her eyes remained wide. In this moment, before a bite, Andre felt fully in possession of his prey. He felt powerful.
He caught Zoey’s attention, and was surprised when she did not shy away from his display of dominance. Instead, she met his gaze and licked her lips, as if she were anticipating her own meal. The gesture was automatic and natural; there was nothing coquettish about it. God, she was perfect.
Susan dug her fingernails into his thighs on both sides; she was losing patience. He let his teeth sink into her flesh before his mouth closed over her neck so that Zoey had a complete view. Then he took a deep draw from Susan’s vein. Susan let out a low moan; he had never heard her make that sound before.
Zoey’s eyes moved from his to Susan’s, and her expression went cold as she observed Susan’s reaction to the pleasure. Zoey inched
forward, gaze glued on the other woman.
Davo, were Susan’s hips rolling? In the subtlest of movements, she was rocking along his thigh back and forth. He just needed one or two more swallows and then he could stop. Susan let out another moan, and as the sound abated another noise replaced it, very quietly. It came from Zoey. She was growling? Her possessiveness shouldn’t feel so damn good. Shame on him.
He opened his mouth and his fangs retracted. Feeling Susan shiver, he lapped up the blood seeping from the puncture wounds and they healed instantly. He moved his hands from Susan’s arms to her hips to give her a boost off his lap. She stood and turned to him, winking. “See you two later.” She was out the door faster than most humans moved.
Zoey stayed where she was and looked at him. He grew nervous again waiting for her to speak. Looking around, he remembered that on Šolta all the rooms had been yellow, simulating the sun. But since he installed the tinted windows, Kos had all the walls at Kaštel painted different colors. He missed the yellow, or maybe it was Zoey making him feel so warm.
Finally, she said, “Is biting always like that?”
“Like what?”
“So hot?”
Andre laughed. “It was hot because you were watching.”
“Your erection says otherwise.”
He shook his head. “That never happens with Susan. I promise it is you.”
With her palms, she pushed off the wall and took a step toward him. “Last night, did you want to bite me?”
“Yes, but I would not have.”
She stood just inches from where he sat on the bed. “Why not? If you knew it would give me so much pleasure?”
“Didn’t I give you enough pleasure?” He couldn’t help but show her all his teeth when he remembered her passionate response.
She did not smile back. “You know you did. Answer the question.”
“If I tasted your blood, Zoey, there would be no going back.”
“What would change?”
“It is difficult to explain.” He had promised her answers, but instinct told him to evade the question.
Blood Vine Page 17
